We are privileged to have observed many talented predecessors with years of dedicated service to ABI and the Mediation Committee during our time as co-chairs. We also have had the good fortune to work with very competent subcommittee directors. Several of our directors are seasoned hands, while others are relative newcomers.
Committees
On April 29, 2022, the ABI Asset Sales Committee announced that the 2021 Asset Sale of the Year was awarded to In re Lighthouse Resources, Inc., et al. (Bankr. D. Del. Consol. Case No. 20-bk-13056- JTD), for the sale of its Wyoming real property assets.
We hope this newsletter finds you well. We welcome our new members and look forward to seeing all of you at our upcoming events.
California faces a common, unfortunate and alarming reality: wildfires. So far in 2022, California has faced approximately 6,739 fires covering almost 365,895 acres. [1] Beyond and often as a consequence of damaging property, land and wilderness, wildfires can also lead to bankruptcy.
Though hints of a digital reality first surfaced as early as 2003 when Second Life made its debut, Facebook’s fall 2021 rebranding — to “Meta” — brought the metaverse to the center stage. That Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg would go so far as to change the iconic name of our favorite friend-finding app surely signaled a sense of inevitability that the metaverse would soon pervade our lives.
The Mediation Committee presented several great CLE sessions this summer at regional bankruptcy workshops around the country. In addition, the committee just presented a fantastic CLE program at ABI’s Winter Leadership Conference this past weekend, which we will summarize in the next newsletter.
“[M]ediation provides a vital alternative to litigation;” its benefits “include its cost-effectiveness, speed, and adaptability.” [1] But despite these benefits, many litigants only turn to mediation to resolve their disputes after filing a lawsuit rather than before.
Chapter 7 panel trustees play an integral role in the bankruptcy system and perform a number of duties to effectively liquidate an estate for a debtor’s discharge. One of the trustee’s most important duties is to “collect and reduce to money the property of the estate ...
The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA), Pub. L. No. 116-54 § 3(a), is probably the largest wholesale change to the Bankruptcy Code since BAPCA in 2005. Enacted in February 2020, the SBRA essentially created subchapter V of chapter 11 and made it easier for small business owners to keep their equity without having to liquidate and sell the remainder of their assets.
The Bankruptcy Code includes nine defenses to a trustee’s ability to avoid a pre-petition transfer as a preference. One of those defenses — codified at 11 U.S.C.
Tue, 2017-01-17
The webinar will provide an overview of the National Form Plan and the opt-out compromise, as well as an update on the current status of the proposed rules. There will be a presentation about the other changes to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. Speakers will also lead a discussion of the requirements of Rule 3015.1 for courts choosing to opt out of the National Form Plan.
Tue, 2016-11-29
The topic of the most recent Commercial Fraud Committee call, discussed the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (UVTA), formerly named the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (UFTA), which was amended (and retitled) in 2014 for the first time since its creation in 1984. According to the Uniform Law Commission, the amended Act, which strengthens creditor protections by providing remedies for certain transactions by a debtor that are unfair to the debtor’s creditors, addresses a small number of narrowly-defined issues and is not a comprehensive revision of the Act.
Mon, 2016-09-19
Guest speaker, James Lodoen, Esq., a partner at Linquist & Vennum, PLLP in Minneapolis, discusses Finn v. Alliance Bank (S. Ct. Minn. 2015), Kelley v. Opportunity Finance, LLC, et al. (In re Petters Company, Inc., et al.) (Bankr. D. Minn. May 31, 2016), and the Ponzi-scheme presumption.
Tue, 2016-09-13
The ABI Unsecured Trade Creditors’ Committee held their most recent Tips of the Trade Call to cover bankruptcy procedure in the country’s busiest business courts. Professionals who represent unsecured trade creditors inevitably find themselves practicing from time to time in the country’s busiest bankruptcy courts, the District of Delaware and the Southern District of New York.
Thu, 2016-07-28
Authors of the Bankruptcy Litigation Committee's most recent newsletter hosted a call to discuss their topic, mediation of bankruptcy disputes. Click here to review this full newsletter.
Tue, 2016-05-31
The Commission recommended that section 550 be amended to permit the trustee to name an alleged subsequent transferee as a defendant in the original complaint to avoid any transfer under Bankruptcy Code sections 544, 545, 547, 548, 549, or 553(b), and to recover such property under section 550, rather than filing an avoidance action prior to filing a recovery action, as the Code currently requires.
Mon, 2016-05-16
During this informative call, the Newsletter Editors for the Mediation and Bankruptcy Litigation committees briefly disucssed the results of their joint survey concerning views about mediation. Ed Dobbs then lead a substansive discussion on mediation ethics. Click here to view the results of the survey and the outline provided by Mr. Dobbs that were published in a recent newsletter.
Tue, 2016-05-03
Crossing the Digital Divide: How to Use Social Media to Augment Your Practice
Fri, 2016-04-15
Labor Issues in 363 Sales: Things You Need to Know
Fri, 2016-04-15
War and Peace: Recent Trends and Developments in Bankruptcy Litigation and Mediation
